Chapter 11: Strange Effect
The moment Wang Lei stepped into the poisonous mist, he felt it.
The toxin surged into his body like a silent invader, and chaos erupted within. His organs began to falter, one by one, like machinery grinding to a halt.
Breathing became a struggle. He'd inhaled too much. Each breath felt like dragging shards of glass into his lungs, sharp and suffocating.
His knees buckled, slamming into the ground.
Wang Lei collapsed, face pressed against the dirt. His limbs refused to move, his entire body was going numb.
His heart pounded wildly, erratic and out of control. Veins bulged beneath his skin, darkening to a sickly violet that spread like corruption through his flesh.
His eyes were bloodshot, wide with pain and fear. He clenched his teeth so hard blood began to spill from the corners of his mouth.
He couldn't even scream, the pain in his throat was unbearable, like it was melting from the inside out.
Damn it...! When is the skill going to activate?!
Wang Lei hadn't expected it to be this excruciating. He had barely taken a single step into the mist, and already his body was falling apart.
If he didn't do something, anything, he would die here. No question about it.
The poison was unnatural. Far too potent for anything in the natural world.
Just as Wang Lei was about to give in, his consciousness slipping beneath the poison's crushing weight, the floating screens he'd been desperately waiting for finally appeared.
[Harmful substance detected within the body. Skill: Poison Resistance will activate and begin purifying the substance.]
[You have consumed a poisonous metal. Skill: Ore Consumption will activate.]
Relief washed over him.
Or at least, it did in his mind. His body still wouldn't respond, limbs frozen, muscles slack. But knowing the skills had kicked in…
That alone gave him something to hold onto.
Still, Wang Lei was surprised that another skill had activated, Ore Consumption. That skill had only triggered once before, when he'd eaten that lump of lead and, in doing so, unlocked Poison Resistance.
Now that I think about it... aren't toxic zones usually caused by minerals releasing poisonous gas when they react to something?
Maybe that's why Ore Consumption activated, because I'm essentially consuming ore, just in a gaseous form…?
It was a stretch, but it made sense. At least enough to give him hope that his skills was recognizing the threat and doing something about it.
If Poison Resistance and Ore Consumption were working together, then Wang Lei had nothing to worry about.
And just as he'd hoped, it didn't take long for the poison to be purged from his body. The pain quickly faded, so quickly it almost felt like it had been a bad dream. Slowly, feeling returned to his limbs, and he found that he could move again.
Even his breathing had returned to normal. Somehow, he was inhaling toxic gas as if it were fresh mountain air.
Strangely enough, Wang Lei felt like he was in top condition.
He glanced at his right arm, the one that had nearly been torn off by a cave ant's bite. That wound had been deep, brutal.
He slowly opened his hand, then closed it into a tight fist.
No pain. Not even a twinge.
And that's exactly what unsettled him.
Just moments ago, his wound had been sealed, not fully healed, but closed enough that he no longer needed cloth to stop the bleeding. He could move his arm, yes, but any sudden motion would send a jolt of pain through it.
That was the state of his injury mere seconds ago.
But now…
It was as if nothing had ever happened to his hand at all. No wound. No scar. No trace that it had been nearly severed by an ant's bite.
"What the heck is happening…?" Wang Lei muttered as he swings his right arm in wonder.
"Status."
---
[Name: Wang Lei]
[LV. 7]
[Health: 160 / 160]
[Stamina: 40 / 50]
[Mana: 60 / 60]
[Strength: 20] [Agility: 26 (20+)] [Defense: 22] [Stamina: 5] [Magic: 7] [Mana: 6]
...
---
"What the… My Health is already full…?"
Wang Lei stared at the screen, unease creeping up his spine.
The cave ant's bite had nearly killed him; his health had been hanging by a thread. He had expected at least a full day of recovery, even with his body's natural regeneration.
Yet here he was, completely healed in just a couple of hours.
Something wasn't adding up.
As if in response to his confusion, a floating screen appeared before him:
[Experience threshold met. Skill: >Poison Resistance LV.1< has leveled up to >Poison Resistance LV.2<.]
Wang Lei blinked, startled, then slowly nodded, a small sense of satisfaction settling in.
"So you do need to use the skill to level it up," he muttered. "Glad to know all that pain wasn't for nothing."
"Did the description change…?" Wang Lei murmured, narrowing his eyes.
"Status."
---
[Name: Wang Lei]
...
[Poison Resistance LV.2]
[Description: Harmful substances within the body will automatically be purified and turned into healing property.]
---
"Hm?" He read the line again, slowly this time, each word wasn't excepted from his eyes.
Purified and turned into healing property...?
He stared at the screen, blinking. Once. Twice.
"So that's why my Health suddenly shot back to full?" Wang Lei muttered. It came out as a question, but deep down, he was already convinced.
This skill, Poison Resistance, had somehow taken the toxins wreaking havoc in his body and transformed them into something medicinal instead.
Poison and medicine… two sides of the same coin.
Handled properly, poison could become a cure. Mishandled, even the purest medicine could turn lethal.
"But, can it even called Poison Resistance at that point anymore? Doesn't Purify Poison sounds better?" Wang Lei couldn't understand how these skills work.
Either way, Wang Lei now saw this skill as something incredibly valuable.
If he ever encountered a poisonous monster, its attacks wouldn't just be neutralized, they'd be purified and possibly even heal him if he was injured.
His mind raced with possibilities, already envisioning ways to turn enemy poison into an advantage on the battlefield. This wasn't just defense anymore. It was a weapon in disguise.
"Well, that's enough daydreaming," Wang Lei muttered, shaking off his excitement as he refocused on today's goal.
"Just because my Poison Resistance leveled up doesn't mean I'm immune now," he reminded himself. "Poison will probably still work, just not as fast."
He was certain the mist ahead would only grow denser, and the poison within it even more potent the deeper he went. He wasn't confident his skill would keep protecting him once the poison reached truly lethal levels.
That's why, for now, his goal was simple, keep leveling Poison Resistance. As far as he was concerned, it needed to reach its limit. Preferably, the maximum level.
Only then would he feel truly safe moving deeper into the mist.
Wang Lei pressed forward, step by careful step, as the mist around him grew thicker.
Earlier, it had been dense but still clear enough to make out his surroundings. Now, the visibility had dropped sharply, he could barely see a few steps ahead. The world beyond was swallowed in a murky green haze, every shape and shadow distorted.
He could just barely make out what lay in front of him.
Wang Lei continued forward, until suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
His heartbeat spiked. A strange current surged through his body, leaving a trail of numbness in its wake. Cold sweat poured down his skin, enough to fill a small bucket.
"Here it comes," he muttered, gritting his teeth.
But this time, he stayed calm. The pain was there, but it wasn't as overwhelming as before. It wasn't the same body-breaking agony he had endured earlier.
He could handle this.
[Harmful substance detected within the body. Skill: Poison Resistance will activate and begin purifying the substance.]
[You have consumed a poisonous metal. Skill: Ore Consumption will activate.]
Wang Lei stood completely still, barely even breathing. He was afraid that even the slightest movement might interfere with the skill's effect.
Seconds dragged on like minutes.
Eventually, he began to feel it, the pain slowly dulling, the tightness in his chest loosening.
Then, another notification appeared:
[Experience threshold met. Skill: >Poison Resistance LV.2< has leveled up to >Poison Resistance LV.3<.]
A wave of relief washed over him. The message he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
"If I keep this up, I'll eventually max out the skill," Wang Lei said, satisfied.
.
…
….
Hours passed.
Beyond the deadly, choking mist, a silhouette began to take form, at first it was faint, then gradually sharpening.
Step by step, it grew larger.
Until finally, it emerged from the haze.
A man stepped out from the mist, standing at about 5 foot 10.
He wore a white T-shirt stained with dirt and a pair of loose black pants. Though hidden beneath baggy clothes, his lean frame suggested a well-sculpted physique. One honed, not simply earned.
His messy black hair fell just above his eyes, eyes that glimmered like polished emeralds, sharp and hypnotic. Anyone who stared too long might find themselves unable to look away.
His back was slightly slouched, and his face showed no visible emotion. But if one looked closer, past the calm exterior, they might catch a trace of something deeper. Disappointment, lingering and quiet.
Of course, the man was Wang Lei, emerging from the mist after leveling up his Poison Resistance skill.
He let out a deep sigh, his breath steady for the first time in hours. Then, without a word, he grabbed his pickaxe and turned back toward the mining house.
Half an hour later, he arrived.
He pushed open the door and walked straight to the bedroom. As soon as his body hit the bed, he sank into it and within seconds, sleep took him.
His steady breathing filled the room.